Case Study: Electrolux
Cold Jet dry ice cleaning and surface preparation reduces scrap and increases
productivity for Electrolux refrigerator plant
The Situation
COMPANY
Electrolux
APPLICATION
Cleaning contaminants from refrigerator
shells
COLD JET SYSTEM
i3MicroClean®
BENEFITS
The Cold Jet systems reduce scrap,
maintenance cost, time cost and overall
risk while improving productivity and
aligning with Electrolux’s environmental
initiatives.
Electrolux Group is the global
leader in home and professional
use appliances, selling more
than 50 million products to
customers in 150 markets each
year. Electrolux kitchen products
account for almost two-thirds of
the Group’s sales and are wellrepresented among the most
energy-efficient alternatives. The
Electrolux Refrigerator Factory
located in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary
was built in 2004 as a greenfield investment. They produce
combination refrigerator/freezers
(combi-bottom) and also one door
refrigerators and freezers.
During the refrigerator/freezer
manufacturing process, insulator
foam is injected between the
inner liner and the shell to ensure
thermal insulation. If there is
any minor leakage between the
coupling parts, the foam fills the
holes and can leave foam remnants
on the surface of the product.
Because Electrolux Nyiregyhaza
products are for home and
professional use, it was crucial that
the products be 100% clean of any
dirt, debris and insulator foam.
The Problem
In the past, Electrolux Nyiregyhaza
used chemicals and hand-tools
to remove the contaminants from
the surface of the refrigerator
shells, as well as to clean the
foaming equipment and jigs
during production. These methods
were time and labor intensive
and sacrificed the quality of the
product. They were also very slow
because they were done manually.
The hand-tools had safety risks
and would likely lead to scratching
the surface of the shell. If the
product was scratched, it would
be discarded as scrap and could
no longer be used in production.
This was costing the company a
significant amount of money each
year. The company needed a
solution that would
ELECTROLUX,
NYIREGYHAZA, HUNGARY
USA: +1 800.337.9423 +1 513.831.3211 • Belgium: +32 (0)13 53 95 47 • Germany: +49 (0)6551 9606.0
Asia: +81 3 4360 8347 • Canada: +1 800.337.9423 X501 • Latin America: +52 (81)10 97 0445
CUSTOMER COMMENTS
“The other driving factors in choosing
the right cleaning solution were speed,
whether it was user-friendly and overall
quality and cost.”
“We are producing on production lines
and do not want to slow production to
stop and clean. We also have to train
15+ people to use the machine so it is
important for it to be easy to operate.”
provide a good clean and
eliminate the possibility of
damaging the product or injuring
workers.
Lean manufacturing was also
important to the plant. László
Koncsek is the Lean specialist
and his Lean manufacturing
program includes 5S, Productive
Maintenance and Autonomous
Maintenance requirements. The
cleaning solution needed to
coincide with these efforts.
“The other driving factors in
choosing the right cleaning
solution were speed, whether
it was user-friendly and overall
quality and cost,” said Koncsek.
“We are producing on production
lines and do not want to slow
production to stop and clean. We
also have to train 15+ people to
use the machine so it is important
for it to be easy to operate.”
The Cold Jet Solution
Koncsek and the plant manager
consulted with the Electrolux
plant in Italy and discovered that
they successfully use Cold Jet
dry ice cleaning as their solution.
The solution had been working
very well for them and they
recommended it be given a try.
Dry ice cleaning uses recycled
CO2 in the form of solid dry ice
particles that are transported by
high-velocity airflow to remove
contaminants from surfaces. The
dry ice particles are accelerated
through high-velocity nozzles onto
the surface being cleaned. The
combination of the kinetic and
thermal gradient effects breaks the
bond between the foam and the
surface of the refrigerator. The dry
ice particles sublimate on impact,
transitioning from a solid to a
gas, leaving no secondary waste
behind.
Dry ice cleaning is a nonabrasive, nonflammable and
nonconductive cleaning method.
It is environmentally-friendly and
contains no secondary
contaminants such as solvents or
grit media. It allows items to be
cleaned in place without timeconsuming disassembly. It can
be used to remove production
residues, release agents,
contaminants, paints, oils and
biofilms and for many general
cleaning applications.
Electrolux Nyiregyhaza purchased
three Cold Jet i3 MicroClean dry
ice cleaning machines and one
i3 Ice Press. The i3 MicroClean
features Cold Jet’s patented
shaved dry ice technology.
It is an environmentally responsible system that enables clean-
USA: +1 800.337.9423 +1 513.831.3211 • Belgium: +32 (0)13 53 95 47 • Germany: +49 (0)6551 9606.0
Asia: +81 3 4360 8347 • Canada: +1 800.337.9423 X501 • Latin America: +52 (81)10 97 0445 • www.coldjet.com
CUSTOMER COMMENTS
“The Cold Jet i3 MicroClean systems
reduce scrap, maintenance and time
costs, improve productivity, align with
our environmental initiatives and reduce
overall risk.”
“The i3 MicroClean systems are more
efficient with relation to the quality of the
clean and the speed has improved our
business.”
ing delicate surfaces and complex
cavities and crevices that other
machines can’t reach—without
surface abrasion, disassembly or
harmful secondary waste. With an
Ice Press, they can create a consistent high-quality dry ice block from
pellets, nuggets or even scrap
dry ice in less than three minutes,
whenever they need it.
“The Cold Jet i3 MicroClean systems reduce scrap, maintenance
and time costs, improve productivity, align with our environmental
initiatives and reduce overall risk,”
said Koncsek. “The i3 MicroClean
systems are more efficient with
relation to the quality of the clean,
and the speed has improved our
business.”
Production teams clean on an
as-needed basis and like that the
machine is portable and can easily
be moved around to use in
multiple areas.
“When we saw how successful
and mobile it was, we decided to
also use it to clean the tools and
equipment in addition to refrigerator shells,” said Koncsek. “We
can incorporate dry ice into many
facets of the company.”
The Electrolux Nyiregyhaza plant
has already calculated their return
on investment and found that they
have been able to recuperate the
cost of the machines based on
scrap savings alone. The Cold Jet
dry ice cleaning machines have
proven to be a value-add investment for the company.
In addition to the Hungary
location, Electrolux has Cold
Jet dry ice cleaning machines in
Australia, Thailand, Italy, Egypt and
the United States. In the U.S., they
use the MicroClean to deflash
polyurethane foam.
i3 MICROCLEAN
Using Cold Jet patented shaved ice
technology.
USA: +1 800.337.9423 +1 513.831.3211 • Belgium: +32 (0)13 53 95 47 • Germany: +49 (0)6551 9606.0
Asia: +81 3 4360 8347 • Canada: +1 800.337.9423 X501 • Latin America: +52 (81)10 97 0445 • www.coldjet.com